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Artist's First Film Explores Southern History
4 Mar
Summary
- Film debuts at Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia.
- Narrative centers on escaping slavery in late 18th-century South.
- Artist blends art world with traditional cinema spaces.
Artist Allison Janae Hamilton presents her inaugural cinema project, "Venus of Ossabaw," debuting March 13 at the Telfair Museum's Jepson Center in Savannah, Georgia. The film, set in the late 1700s, recounts a teenage girl's escape from Ossabaw Island and her journey to freedom in Spanish Florida. Hamilton's work draws inspiration from historical accounts of enslaved individuals seeking emancipation in Spanish Florida.
The project was filmed on Ossabaw Island, a location that deeply resonates with Hamilton's artistic focus on the environmental histories of the American South and Black life. She has created two versions of the film: one for traditional cinema screening and another expanded version projected onto the museum building.
Hamilton is also developing her first feature film, "Floridaland," and seeks to engage broader audiences by working within the traditional cinema ecosystem. She views landscape as a crucial entry point to exploring identity, Black womanhood, and Americanness, integrating these themes into her work across various media.
The "Venus of Ossabaw" exhibition at the Telfair Museum represents Hamilton's intention to challenge herself artistically, exploring the fluid relationship between gallery spaces and conventional filmmaking. Her previous works have been exhibited at prominent institutions like MoMA and the Studio Museum in Harlem.
